Al Jazeera Senior Analyst: Jews Should Know Their Place

‘Some Jewish humility is good for you’

Al Jazeera English’s senior political analyst is under fire for telling a prominent Jewish writer that he "gives Jews a bad name" and should know his place by showing "some Jewish humility."

Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst and host of its show Empire, made the comments on Twitter after Bloomberg columnist Jeffrey Goldberg complimented Al Jazeera.

Goldberg had tweeted a link to an article in the left-leaning Israeli publication Haaretz headlined, "Why all Israelis are cowards," with the commentary: "Haaretz publishes headlines that al Jazeera never would, in part because al Jazeera is often more sophisticated."

This prompted Bishara to call Goldberg a "coward" and state, "You give jews a bad name. Shame on you."

Bishara went on to criticize Goldberg as "a prison guard of the Israeli occupation" and instruct him to show "some Jewish humility."

"Take it from someone more educated & better informed about the issues you write about," Bishara wrote. "Some Jewish humility is good for you."

Bishara’s comments were deemed by critics as an example of anti-Jewish invective and prompted Goldberg to wonder if Al Jazeera endorses Bishara’s comments.

Al Jazeera itself has long been accused of having an anti-Semitic and anti-Israel bias and has faced criticism for its ties to supporters of terrorism.

"Is it [Al Jazeera English’s] position that Jews need to show humility, or just yours," Goldberg wrote to Bishara, who went on to defend his remarks.

Other Twitter users also expressed shock that an Al Jazeera employee would lecture Jewish people on the need to be humble.

"Being humble is one of the key traits that Judaism values," Bishara later wrote, claiming to cite the book The Jewish Religion: A Companion.

He also continued to call Goldberg, a former Israeli Defense Forces soldier who wrote a book about his experiences, "an occupation prison guard running away from his past."

Asked to comment on Bishara’s remarks and charge that Jews need to be humble, Goldberg told the Washington Free Beacon that Bishara "might be the dumbest interlocutor I’ve had on Twitter, which is saying something."

Bishara did not respond on Twitter to a message asking for an explanation of his remarks.

Al Jazeera America declined to comment on the tweets, telling the Free Beacon that "Mr. Bishara does not work for Al Jazeera America." The spokesman directed a reporter to further contact Al Jazeera English, which did not respond to an email request seeking comment.

Adam KredoEmail Adam | Full Bio | RSSAdam Kredo is senior writer reporting on national security and foreign policy matters for the Washington Free Beacon. An award-winning political reporter who has broken news from across the globe, Kredo’s work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, Commentary Magazine, the Drudge Report, and the Jerusalem Post, among many others. His Twitter handle is @Kredo0. His email address is kredo@freebeacon.com.